Monday, Nov. 26, 2001 | 9:33 a.m.
Boca Raton, Brooklyn and Los Angeles all have them. Now Las Vegas is welcoming retirement communities that cater to the kosher.
More than 600 Jewish people relocate to Las Vegas every month -- many of them retirees -- which has drawn the attention of developers who are looking for niche market opportunities.
The first certified kosher condominium complex for active retirees is set to open in January near Flamingo Road and Durango Drive.
The King Solomon condominiums will have an on-site rabbi, synagogue and fully supervised kosher kitchen.
The 166-unit complex is being developed by Bob Tilsner, who developed two Florida kosher communities: the King David Hotel in Boca Raton and the King Solomon retirement community in Delray Beach.
"I started hearing about Las Vegas -- that it was a Jewish boomtown and the fastest-growing town -- and we know that being in the old-people business is big business," Tilsner said. "So we met with rabbis there."
Rabbi Shea Harlig, executive director of Chabad of Southern Nevada, will certify that the facility is kosher and select a rabbi to supervise the complex.
"We are going to bring someone in from New York -- we are talking to a few people now," Harlig said. "Overall, the kitchen is going to be under Chabad supervision."
Kosher kitchens follow strict guidelines rooted in the Torah.
Certain animals, such as pigs, may not be eaten at all. Those that can be eaten must be killed in accordance with Jewish law. All blood must be drained from the meat or broiled out before it is eaten, because the Torah prohibits consumption of blood. Meat cannot be eaten with dairy. Utensils that come in contact with meat may not be used with dairy. And grape products made by non-Jews may not be eaten, as it is seen as a form of idolatry.
Harlig's group, Chabad, is dedicated to encouraging Jews to return to traditional practices such as keeping kosher.
"Some families are less committed to Judaism than their parents. And the kids intermarry. So that does raise concerns that Judaism will be lost," Harlig, who has six children and keeps a traditional household, said. "But that is the purpose of my organization -- to renew that tradition."
A controversial 1998 World Jewish Congress report underscored that loss. It said that the Jewish population outside Israel was shrinking because of intermarriage and low birthrates. New Jews are not being produced at high enough levels to account for the generation of Jews now in their older years, the report said, and Jewish traditions are being lost.
"Occasionally I get calls from people whose parents want to live in a kosher environment, but they themselves do not keep kosher, so they don't know what to do," Harlig said. "This complex should address that."
Although Las Vegas is home to nearly 80,000 Jews, it does not have a kosher grocery store.
But signs of a renewed emphasis on Jewish tradition are evident all over Las Vegas.
Harlig has worked with several grocery stores such as Albertson's to sell some kosher items. The Four Seasons Hotel spent $400,000 to create a kosher kitchen.
The Las Vegas Valley's first Jewish burial grounds opened in April -- the King David Memorial Chapel and Cemetery. The mortuary follows Jewish laws such as burying a body within 24 hours of death.
The Jewish Federation, with local philanthropist Alice Goldberg, founded another kosher home for the elderly, the future Las Vegas Home for Aged.
"There is a sizable elderly Jewish population in the various retirement centers around town," Rabbi Mel Hecht, of Temple Beth Am, said. Hecht is in the final stages of building an adult day care center on his synagogue grounds in Summerlin.
Hecht said the community's Jewish adult population is prime for businesses that cater to them.
"If this idea is a sleeper, it won't be a sleeper for long," Hecht said.
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